A New Poll Shows Americans Overwhelmingly Support Cannabis

A new poll shows that an overwhelming majority of Americans are in favor of cannabis.

The poll, which was conducted by Quinnipiac University, found that 93 percent of voters questioned are in favor of cannabis for medical purposes. Additionally, 71 percent—including majorities of Republicans, Democrats, independents, and every age group polled—are against federal agents and money going towards the enforcement of federal prohibition laws in states that have made marijuana legal for medical or adult use.

“Americans of all ages and political persuasions can agree that the federal government has no business interfering in state marijuana laws,” said Mason Tvert, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, wrote in a statement. “People do not want federal prohibition laws to be enforced in states that have rejected them. There appears to be near universal support for allowing the use of medical marijuana, and the majority in favor of broader reform is growing quickly. Our country might be divided on some issues, but more and more it is looking like marijuana policy is not one of them,”

The poll also found that 54 percent agreed with the statement “marijuana should be made legal in the United States.” Men favored legalization of cannabis more than their female counterparts. Sixty percent of men are in favor of ending cannabis prohibition; whereas only 48 percent of women supported it.

With a margin of 87 to 9 percent, the poll showed that participants are in favor of allowing Veterans Administration doctors to prescribe cannabis, in pill form, to veterans afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“If you serve your country and suffer for it, you deserve every health remedy available, including medical marijuana in pill form. That is the full-throated recommendation of Americans across the demographic spectrum, including voters in military households,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

The current administration ran on a platform of keeping cannabis a state’s rights issue. Thus far President Trump has been keeping his word on that pact, but many fear that his inclusion of known cannabis detractors, like Mike Pence and Jeff Sessions, will eventually lead him astray.

“President Trump said throughout his campaign that he supported states’ rights to determine their own marijuana policies. We are hopeful that he will maintain that position, which is clearly in line with the majority of Americans. It appears the administration would face strong criticism from both sides of the aisle and most people in between if it attempted to interfere in states’ marijuana laws,” wrote Tvert.